Envelope letter



April 17, 1934. A WQQDWARD 1,954,971

ENVELOPE LETTER Filed Aug. '24, 1931 Patented Apr. 17, 1934 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFCE ENVELOPE LETTER Application August 24, 1931, SerialNo. 558,975

3 Claims.

This invention relates to letter forms and analogous devices and has todo more particularly with the provision of a letter or like instrumentfolded and secured, with facility, to provide an enclosure in the formof an envelope which effectively conceals the body of the letter.

One of the main objects of my invention is to provide a method offolding a sheet of paper, or other suitable material, such as iscommonly used l0 for reception of writing or printing thereon, wherebysuch sheet may be folded with facility, and without preliminarytreatment, to provide an enclosure for the letter in the form of anenvelope, thus eliminating the use of envelopes.

. It is a further object of my invention to provide a sheet of thecharacter stated adapted for reception of the name and address of theparty to whom such letter is to be sent, as Well as the salutation andthe body of the letter itself, this sheet being so creased as to befolded with facility so as to leave the name and address of the partyexposed upon the face of the sheet in the same manner as upon anenvelope, the remainder of the sheet being folded upon itself so as tocover effectively the salutation and the body of the letter.

A further object of my invention is to provide a method of foldingwhereby a sheet of paper or like material can be folded with facility,and

by mechanical means, into the form of an envelope.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will appear from thedetailed description.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a face view of a sheet of paper with the lines of folding inaccordance with my invention indicated thereon;

Figure 2 is a face view of a letter partially folded in accordance withmy invention;

Figure 3 is a perspective back view of the letter of Figure 2, with thesides folded;

Figure 4 is a front View of the letter completely folded in accordancewith my invention and ready for mailing;

Figure 5 is a back View of the completely folded letter of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a section taken substantially on line 6--6 of Figure 4; and

Figure 7 is a section taken substantially on line 7-7 of Figure 4.

` In carrying out my invention, the letter is written upon a sheet 1 ofpaper in the usual manner, but with the name and address 2 of theaddressee a slightly greater distance above the salutation 3 than is thecommon practice. The

(Cl. 22d-432.1)

body of the letter, including the signature, is then Written upon thesheet 1, following the salutation, in the usual manner. After the letterhas thus been written upon the sheet, the sheet is folded transverselyalong the line a-a, the crease thus produced being away from theobserver as the sheet is viewed in Fig. l, as indicated by the dottedline. This disposes the lower portion 4 of the sheet face to face withthe intermediate portion 5 thereof in superposed relation thereto. Thelateral portions of the sheet are then folded rearwardly along the linesb-b as indicated by the dot and dash lines', providing marginal elements6 which are folded rearwardly against the back of the sheet, it beingnoted that the marginal elements 6a of lower portion 4 of the sheet arefolded forwardly along the dotted lines c c. rIhe sheet is then againfolded transversely along the line d-d as indicated by the dot and dashline, thus disposing the upper portion 7 of the sheet back to back withthe intermediate portion 5 and with the face of the upper portion 7,bearing the name and address of the addressee, exposed. It will be notedthat the line d--d extends between the salutation 3V and the name andaddress 2, so that, with the letter folded in this manner, thesalutation and the body of thev letter are completely enclosed andconcealed, and the name and address of the addressee is exposed upon theface of upper portion 7 of the letter in the same manner as upon anenvelope of conventional type. The letter is again folded along the dotand dash line e-e so as to provide an upper marginal element 8 disposedat the rear of upper portion 7 of the sheet. The lateral portions ofthis marginal element 8, together with the underlying upper end portionsof the marginal elements 6 are then tucked between the rearward face ofportion 5 of the sheet and the lower ends of the portions of themarginal elements 6 at the ends of portion 5 of the sheet, whichportions of the marginal elements 6 are now disposed in front of and insuperposed relation to marginal elements 6a at the ends of lower portion4 of the sheet.

With the letter folded in the manner described, the salutation and thebody of the letter are co-mpletely enclosed and concealed, and the nameand address of the addressee is exposed upon the face of upper portion'7 of the sheet in the same manner as upon an envelope of conventionaltype. The letter thus folded is ready for transmission through themails, and the postage or stamp is applied thereto, at the upperrighthand corner of portion 7 of the sheet, in the same manner as it isapplied to an envelope. Preferably, though not necessarily, the letteris sealed closed by means of a seal 9, of paper or other suitablematerial, of known type, which seal has an adhesive applied thereto andextends over the upper edge of the folded letter, being secured to thefront face of portion 7 thereof and the back face of portion 4 of theletter sheet. Also, if desired, the lower edge of portion 7 of the sheetmay be secured to the upper edge of portion 5 by an adhesive, asindicated at 10, or in any other suitable manner, as by means of a sealsimilar to the seal 9. I also contemplate sealing the letter closed bymeans of the stamp, which may be secured about the edge ofthe foldedletter in the same manner as seal 9, and may replace the latter.

By folding the letter in the manner illustrated and described, the edgeportions of the resulting envelope-like structure are effectively'reinforced by the folded marginal elements of the sheet in such manneras to reduce likelihood of tearing or other damage to the letter duringtransit thereof. Also, the end portions of the marginal element 8 areformed of two thicknesses of material and are disposed between portionsof the sheet, each of which is also formed of two thicknesses ofmaterial. This is advantageous as reducing liability of tearing of thesheet, or of the envelopelike structure, at the upper corners thereof.

The folding of the letter sheet is such that it may be accomplishedreadily by mechanical means, such as a suitable machine provided forthat purpose. This is an important feature of my invention. In practice,the letters are written upon the sheets of paper in the usualmanner,with the exception that the name and address of the addressee isdisposed a slightly greater distance above the salutation thanA is thepresent practice, as above noted. After the letters have been writtenthey may be stacked and placed in a suitable machine, capable of foldingthe letters, in the manner illustrated and described, at high speed. Inthe event thata letter comprises two or more pages, the sheets of such aletter are disposed in proper superposed relation, and may all be foldedtogether in the same manner as a single sheet, to produce an envelope-`like structure such as that illustrated and above described.

By my invention I not only eliminate the use of envelopes and theexpense incident thereto, but I also eliminate, to a great extent, thetime required to fold the individual letters and insert them intoenvelopes. Also, the possibility of placing a letter in the wrongenvelope is eliminated, and the letterhead, when used, is exposed andserves as an advertising medium. y While I have illustrated the letterwith the name and address a slightly greater distance than usual abovethe salutation, by way of example, this is not essential. The letter maybe written with the usual distance between the name and address and thesalutation, if desired.

When the letters are to be folded by machinery, in the manner abovedescribed, the letter sheets are of ordinary type and are not creasedpreliminary to the folding operation. Any ordinary sheet of paper orlike material, commonly used for letters or other purposes, may bewritten or printed upon in the usual manner and then folded by machineryto provide an enclosingenvelopefortheletter, as previously described.

' This has vthe advantage that the sheet need not be creased orotherwise marked, preliminary to the folding thereof, which avoids anypossible difficulty in handling the sheets, such as might be caused bypreliminary creasing thereof. Also, the expense incident to preliminarycreasing or marking of the sheets is avoided.

In establishments where the volume of correspondence is not sufficientto justify the use of a folding machine, or in any case where such amachine isnot available, the letters may be folded by hand. In suchinstances, and as a matter of convenience, the letter sheets may besuitably Ymarked to indicate the proper method of folding thereof. Thismarking may take the form of light creases in the sheet, properlyrelated for folding thereof in the manner above described, or any othersuitable marking may be employed. For example, the sheet may haveimpressed thereon suitable lines of different characteristics, asindicated in Figure 1, such lines indicating the proper direction of therespective folds to be made. .If the sheet vis preliminarily creased forfolding the creases should preferably be light so as not to interferewith handling of the sheets or insertion thereof into typewriters orother machines for printing upon the sheets. preliminary creasing shouldbe suiciently light to avoid any objectionable interference with theoperation of writing or printing upon the sheet.

What I claim is:

1. In a device of the character described, a rectangular sheet ofmaterial of uniform width and length bearing on one face thereof a nameand address and a text therebelow, the sheet being folded transverselyto provide an upper portion, an intermediate portion and a lowerportion, said sheet also being folded lengthwise adjacent each side andfor the full length thereof to provide marginal elements disposed at theback of the sheet, the lower portion and the intermediate portion of thesheet being disposed face to face to conceal the text and the upperportion being disposed back to back with the intermediate portion toexpose the name and address upon the face of said upper portion, themarginal folds at the sides of the lower portion extending over themarginal folds at the sides of the intermediate portion and cooperatingtherewith to prevent separation of the lower portion and intermediateportion for unauthorized observation of the text, the marginal folds ofal1 of the portions of the sheet being disposed between said upperportion and said intermediate portion and enclosed and shielded thereby.

2. In a device of the character described, a

rectangular sheet of material of uniform width ,130

and length bearing on one face thereof a name and address and a texttherebelow, the sheet being folded transversely to provide an upperportion, an intermediate portion and a lower portion, said sheet alsobeing folded lengthwise adjacent each side and for the full lengththereof to provide marginal elements disposed at the back of the sheet,the lower portion and the intermediate portion of the sheet beingdisposed face to face to conceal the text and the upper portion beingdisposed back to back With the intermediate portion to expose the nameand address upon the face of said upper portion, the marginal folds atthe sides of the lower portion extending over the Ymarginal folds at thesides of the intermediate portion and cooperating therewith to preventseparation of the lower portion and intermediate portion forunauthorized observation of the text, the marginal folds of all of theportions of the sheet being disposed between said upper portion'-v andsaid intermediate portion and enclosed and Also, this shielded thereby,the folded sheet being sealed at its upper and lower edges and unsealedat its sides.

3. In a device of the character described, a sheet of material intendedfor reception upon one face thereof lof an ordinary business type ofletter, said sheet being folded transversely to provide an upper portionfor reception of the addressees name and address and an intermediateportion and a lower portion for reception of the text of the letter, thesheet being also folded lengthwise adjacent each side and for the fulllength thereof to provide marginal elements disposed at the back of thesheet, the lower portion and the intermediate portion of the sheet beingdisposed face to face to conceal the text

